LOUISVILLE – The Wright State volleyball team took the opening set off No. 4 Louisville on Sunday afternoon before dropping three tight sets to fall 3-1 to the hosts of the Cardinal Classic to wrap up the first weekend of the season.
 
Wright State (1-2) tallied the opening points of sets one, two and four before setting off back-and-forth sets throughout the afternoon. The Raiders hit .300 as a group in the opening set while holding Louisville (3-0) to just a .171 team hitting mark. Wright State ended the afternoon hitting .197 as a group and Louisville was at .221.
 
The Raiders' opening set victory marked the first time this season Louisville dropped a set through three matches. Louisville, the national runners-up a season ago, only dropped three sets all season to non-ranked foes in 54 total sets played against those opponents. The last time Louisville lost a set to a non-Power 5 opponent before the Raiders on Sunday was back on April 15, 2021 when the Cardinals dropped the first set in a 3-1 victory over the University of San Diego in the opening round of the 2020 NCAA tournament (played Spring 2021).
 
Reilly Zegunis was named to the Cardinal Classic all-tournament team, one of five players to earn the recognition after finishing with 29 kills and a .382 hitting percentage in her first 10 collegiate sets this weekend while adding six blocks. She tallied seven kills against Louisville after notching eight kills Friday against Washington State and having 14 kills against Troy.
 
Megan Alders tallied nine of her match-high 20 kills in the first set, while Sam Ott recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Callie Martin just missed out on a double-double of her own, recording 14 digs and adding eight kills. Andrea Bortulin notched a career-best four service aces, three of which came to open the fourth set, while Katie Meyer had a match-high 37 assists for the Raiders.
 
OF NOTE…
- Alders 20 kills were the third-most in her career behind a 23-kill effort against Marshall and 22 kills at Michigan State, both in 2021. It was her first double-digit kill performance of 2023 and the 43rd time in her career she has tallied 10 or more kills.
- Bortulin's four service aces matches her season total for service aces last year as a freshman and comes one day after she recorded three service aces in the sweep over Troy.
- Ott reached double figure kills for the first time this season after tallying 10-plus kills in 16 of 32 matches last season. Sunday marked her 10th career double-double, with the previous nine all coming in 2022.
 
SET ONE
Wright State scored the first three points of the afternoon behind a pair of kills from Alders and a service ace by Bortulin before Louisville pulled back into the set and tied things at 8-all. The momentary tie would prove to be the only tie of the set, as the Raiders never relinquished the advantage, tallying three straight points thanks to kills from Alders and Ott to push the lead to 19-13. Louisville closed to within four down the stretch before a service error gave the Raiders the 25-20 opening set.
 
SET TWO
Back-to-back Louisville attacking errors to open the set gave the Raiders the early advantage before the hosts battled back and the sides produced five different tied scores. Tight throughout the set, Louisville used three straight points to extend the lead to 13-10 before Wright State responded behind kills from Alders and Zeguni to pull within one. Louisville finally gained separation with a four-point run behind three Raider errors to lead 19-14 and held off one final Wright State push by closing the set with four of the final five points in the 25-18 set win.
 
SET THREE
Wright State tallied five of the first seven points of the set thanks to a pair of kills by Alders and Louisville errors before the hosts battled back. The Raiders held the lead until an 8-1 run by Louisville gave them a 17-13 advantage, only to see Wright State record five of the next seven points to pull within one. Louisville gained breathing room with a 4-0 spurt to push to 23-18 before closing the set 25-20 moments later.
 
SET FOUR
The Raiders had all the momentum early in the set, recording the first six points behind three service aces from Bortulin and a trio of Louisville errors. Louisville chipped away from there in the back-and-forth set that saw seven tied scores before the hosts finally took the lead with back-to-back points to go up 24-22 late in the set. Wright State stayed alive with a point before a pair of kills from Louisville ended the afternoon at 26-24.